Figure 1: Game board of “Transport Trails” designed by Juli Aronson
The Future of Energy: Transport Trails
By Emma Johns, Juli Aronson, Clarissa Lim and Christina Pan
The Future of Energy (CHEMMAT 304) is a Part III elective consisting of a semester-long, hands-on team project focused on developing transferable skills and applying a multidisciplinary mindset to solve a technical problem related to climate change.
Team 7’s project aimed to demonstrate the necessity of a rapid decrease in transport emissions in New Zealand, while improving each member’s level of self-confidence. These goals were accomplished through the iterative mockup process of the game board and other two-dimensional elements, 3D printing of the game pieces, and constant support of one another throughout the prototyping procedure.
They ultimately produced a board game entitled “Transport Trails” to enable young Kiwis to engage with their personal role in transport emissions, give them ideas on how to reduce their own emissions, and inform them of the role that larger corporations and governments have. The game is tailored to New Zealand’s weather conditions, transport infrastructure and systems and is governed by rules that highlight personal, environmental and societal dilemmas faced by commuting Kiwis through simple incentives.
Additionally, training new and existing engineering and non-disciplinary skills to complete the project developed confidence in the team’s skills, collaborative efforts and problem solving ability. Not only did all team members improve quantifiably in their self-belief over the course of the semester, but they also expanded their respective abilities and developed skills to grow outside of the classroom, all while making new and strengthening existing friendships.
Figure 2: Team 7 – who is very excited about the CHEMMAT People’s choice award
CMESA update
Here are some posts from CMESA’s LinkedIn page:
Photo credits: Sophia Wei
2021 CHEMMAT cohort donate trees
The 2021 CHEMMAT Undergraduate class reps had a small amount of funds left over at the end of last year. They thought they would like to give back to the community in a way thematic to their iconic capstone design project. Consequently, 28 trees were donated to Trees That Count for provision to planters across the nation.
Team “DoWeNeed2” of CHEMMAT 304!
CHEMMAT 304: The Future of Energy, a third-year elective, gives out an annual people’s choice award to acknowledge the most fun project carried out by students as part of their coursework. The coursework requires students to engage in a 12-week team project which fosters their employability skills and multidisciplinary mindset while working on or with a toy-sized hydrogen-powered car.
Although Covid-19 gave us many lemons this year, all student teams converted them successfully into tasty lemonade. They managed uncertainties superbly and grew their skills and positive mindset, as evidenced by a 100%-rate of achieving their project missions.
This year’s people’s choice award went to Team “DoWeNeed2” consisting of Ryan Tan (team leader and Python geek), Julienne Vivero (team secretary and drawing wizard) and Sophia Wei (team manager and CAD magician). In addition to creating a standard operating procedure for measuring the average speed of a toy-sized hydrogen-powered car, the team also reflected on their journey in a fun way.